Gas addiction killed recovering alcoholic

A MAN beat his alcohol dependency only to succumb to an addiction to inhaling gas.

Police forced their way into Mark Dever’s flat in Durden Mews, Shaw, on January 4 and found him dead, surrounded by around 50 gas canisters.

An inquest into the 29-year-old’s death at Oldham Magistrates’ Court yesterday heard that he had been battling addiction.

Mr Dever was born in Bolton but his parents split up when he was five and he went to live with his step-sister in Horwich.

After leaving school he worked at Tesco but his father died shortly afterwards and he struggled to cope. He began drinking heavily and lost his job.

A four-year relationship with a girlfriend also ended and a reconciliation with his mother was cut short because of his drinking.

Mr Dever moved to Chadderton and then Shaw and often stayed with his aunt, Winifred Dever, in Dukinfield. After stints in rehab he overcame his alcohol addiction but felt unable to cope without his dependency on solvents.

Two overdoses on prescription drugs were considered cries for help. But despite his difficulties, Mr Dever was described as kind and cheerful with an immaculate appearance.

Mrs Dever said she had once cleared his house and collected 120 gas canisters.

She said: “Mark would say he was all right but it was just the solvent abuse. We would clear his house and we never found any evidence of drink, just the gas.

“All his money went on gas. He would sell anything to get the gas.”

A post-mortem examination showed that the intoxicating effects of inhaling butane, propane and isobutane, all liquefied petroleum gases, caused Mr Dever’s death.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Oldham’s deputy coroner, Barrie Williams, said: “The asphyxiation that can occur if exposure is prolonged can lead to coma and in some cases death, which was concluded here. I don’t believe he intended death to be the outcome.”